Psych Central

In this podcast, the narrator describes how she is plagued by the thought of losing her loved ones and how her uninvited guests have a habit of torturing her with the worst possible outcomes.

TW: This podcast revolves around the mental health journey of a patient who lived with schizophrenia and was stigmatized by an oppressive society.

The death of the patient’s parents, her placement in an orphanage, and the death of a close friend all triggered hallucinations. After being diagnosed with schizophrenia, the patient worked on herself for 4-5 years and was making progress. This all took a turn when her therapist encouraged the patient to get married as is customary in Pakistani society. The marriage saw the patient’s mental health relapse. Consequently, she was unaccepted by her in-laws, who believed she was possed and thus, took her children away from her. The patient is now at a rehab facility called Fountain house.

The podcast revolves around the themes of death and highlights the gloomy reality of mental health battles in developing countries- where your family cannot afford to look after you and your therapist let’s cultural values cloud their judgment. It reflects the tough and eventful journey of a survivor. A young girl who was displaced, whose childhood was marked by death, and whose marriage was anything but perfect. But she survived, she’s strong and self-reliant and today she’s finally getting the help that she should have gotten at the beginning of her life.

As you hear her story, we urge you to think of the psychiatrist who couldn't keep her societal/religious beliefs aside when treating her patient, think of the council that licensed said psychiatrist's practice, the family and the lack of a supportive environment they fostered. And then think of how this is only one story you're hearing today; we assure you, there's many more in our conventional Pakistan.

Trigger warning: this video contains personal accounts of struggles with mental health; mostly stress and anxiety as well as references to PTSD and depression.
Further disclaimer:
1) To clarify, we are not psychiatrists or psychologists, but a group of students utilizing this platform to discuss our own experiences and stories regarding mental health.
2) We are in no way insinuating that the topic of mental health is meant to be taking lightly. We choose to conduct ourselves in a lighthearted manner in order to create an atmosphere where we are all comfortable to talk about our experiences with each other.
In this episode we attempt to tackle the question that begun it all:
Why is mental health subject to stigma?
Watch as we try to dismantle the interdiction of the topic of mental health evidenced by:
• our own homes
• our schools
• our state

Trigger warning: this podcast contains personal accounts of struggles with mental health; mostly stress and anxiety
Further disclaimer:
1) To clarify, we are not psychiatrists or psychologists, but a group of students utilizing this platform to discuss our own experiences and stories regarding mental health.
2) We are in no way insinuating that the topic of mental health is meant to be taking lightly. We choose to conduct ourselves in a lighthearted manner in order to create an atmosphere where we are all comfortable to talk about our experiences with each other.
In this episode we talk about:
•the flaws in our education system

•unhealthy competition between students
•career bias in south Asian households
•workload stress
•balancing academic with extra-curricular activities
•lack of support from families and teachers
•uncertainty caused by the pandemic •

There's always a thought, it becomes an action when we decide to work on it. In this bonus episode of Psych Central, Natasha Khalid has a decision to make.... to remain a statistic or outrun the masses?